Architect H. E. Vantelet of Montréal designed the St. Andrews Lock and Dam. He chose the “Camere” style found in France and modified it for the unique circumstances of the Red River. Construction began in 1908. The first ship to pass through the locks was the government steamer Victoria on 2 May 1910. The official opening took place on 14 July 1910 when the Winnitoba sailed from Winnipeg with Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier and his Public Works Minister William Pugsley, the man credited with getting the often-stalled project completed.

The lock is the only one on the prairies and measures eleven meter deep, 62 meters long and 13.7 meters wide. Each curtain in the dam is made up of 50 Douglas fir laths, each four meters long and two meters wide. The St. Andrews Lock and Dam is a designated National Historic Site and a Canadian Civil Engineering Historic Site (1990). A commemorative monument stands nearby.

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